Story Highlights

In "Human Capital," the destinies of two Italian families become intertwined after a hit-and-run accident in which the victim is a waiter. One of the clans is spectacularly rich; the patriarch of the other family hopes to be.

The movie starts with the traffic accident, then jumps back in time. The two families initially meet after their children begin dating. Real-estate agent Dino (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) drops off his daughter at her boyfriend's house and his eyes pop at the opulence. He becomes tennis partners with the young man's father, Giovanni (Fabrizio Gifuni), and quickly buys his way into a hedge fund.

Viewers hear the bell of doom tolling almost instantly. Dino is too eager and clueless to read the signals that Giovanni sends out. It also turns out Dino's wife (Valeria Golino) is expecting twins. Bells peal in triplicate.

The screenplay, which is based on a Connecticut-set book by Stephen Amidon, then moves on to the point of view of Giovanni's wife. Carla (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) is a wistful former actress, lovely and somewhat lost. Viewers see some intersecting moments with Dino through her eyes, though the differing perspectives aren't particularly compelling.

The movie then leaps to the point of view of Dino's daughter Serena (Matilde Gioli) for the third act. The threads of the story fall into place, perhaps a little too neatly. At this point, director Paolo Virzi begins to speed up the rather leisurely pace. It doesn't spike the tension; instead, it makes a viewer anxious for things to wind down.

The movie makes some observations about the worth of human life — the title refers to the monetary value put on the life of the injured waiter — and the economic class system, but they're not terribly interesting or surprising. They're also handled with a heavy hand, as if Virzi is afraid we might miss his intentions. The difference in the way Dino and Giovanni dress, for instance, or an end title card to clarify the situation and basically shout at the audience.

The film feels sharper and more vibrant when it stays focused on Carla's doomed attempt to renovate an aging theater or Dino's indifference to his pregnant wife's needs. At those moments, the people on screen feel less like archetypes designed to prove a point and more like three-dimensional characters.